Land, Legacy, and Birds Bringing People Together

This week on the Bird Joy Podcast, Dexter and Jason sit down with Christopher Joe, a farmer, conservationist, birder, and founder of Connecting with Birds and Nature Tours in Alabama.

Chris is a native of Greensboro, Alabama, and the steward of Joe Farm, a 200-acre Black Angus cattle farm in Newbern that has been in his family since the mid-1800s. A graduate of Alabama A&M University with a degree in Agribusiness Management, Chris now serves as a District Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. His life’s work sits at the intersection of land stewardship, conservation, and community.

In a region where Black land ownership has faced generations of intimidation and loss, Chris understands just how sacred land can be. Through birding tours hosted on his family’s private property, he has created a rare and powerful space. A space where people from all walks of life can gather, feel safe, and experience nature through joy and connection.

Joe Farm has become especially known for the breathtaking arrival of Swallow-tailed Kites each year during hay cutting season — a spectacle that draws birders from across the region and opens deeper conversations about access, representation, and belonging in the outdoors.

In this episode, we explore Chris’s childhood roots on the farm, the responsibility of carrying generational legacy, and the challenges of building an ecotourism business in Alabama. We talk about what it means to often be the only Black person in conservation spaces, how the national conversation around race and birding has evolved, and how hosting Christian Cooper and National Geographic on his property shaped his journey.

At its core, this conversation is about more than birds. It’s about legacy. It’s about ownership. It’s about community. And it’s about what becomes possible when people experience nature together.

Plus, stay tuned for a joyful lightning round where Chris shares his favorite bird to photograph, the sound in nature he loves most, and what “Bird Joy” truly means to him.

You can learn more about Christopher Joe and book a tour at Birds and Nature Tours.

Remember — Bird Joy is for everyone, even YOU.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin 

In Color Birding Club